One year later, no charges filed in baby's drowning

More than a year after a 15-month-old girl drowned in a Collier County bathtub, no one has been charged with a crime for her death.

Officials with the Florida Department of Children and Families say the baby's mother, Randi MacLeod, neglected the girl.

According to paperwork filed with DCF, MacLeod put Ava Grace Slaby in the bathtub on February 15, 2011, and then admitted to her family she passed out. It was three hours before MacLeod called 911.

The Collier County Sheriff's Office tells NBC2 the incident is still under investigation.

Ava's father, Christopher Slaby, died a month prior in January 2011 after being thrown from his car in an accident in which little Ava survived.

"She was my life. My life. The first girl," Pamela Slaby said. "I mean the day she was born, it was like looking in my son's eyes, the day I gave birth to him."

Photos and memories are all Pamela Slaby has left of her son Chris and granddaughter Ava.

"I promised him on his death bed that I would protect his little girl. I feel like I failed," Pamela Slaby said. "I can't move on because I feel I can't put my son to rest not knowing I did everything in my power to know what happened to his little girl."

Her son's fiancee, Randi MacLeod, was the only person home at the time of Ava's death. The Department of Children and Families determined she neglected little Ava.

"To us, in terms of the child welfare system, clearly, this parent could have done more to protect their child," DCF Regional Director Mike Carroll said.

DCF was involved with the family before Ava died, investigating possible prescription drug abuse by MacLeod. Documents show she was taking Xanax after her fiance passed away.

Despite DCF's report, MacLeod hasn't been charged with any crime.

"There's a different level of evidence needed in a criminal case than in a child protection case," Carroll said.

"It's a clear case. It's proven. It's a case of child neglect," Pamela Slaby said. "Chris would want me to make sure that Ava's death was vindicated."

Count on NBC2 to follow this story as the Collier County Sheriff's Office continues its investigation.

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